Sundazed Music Inc (2012) Sundazed scores with an LP-only box featuring rare original mono mixes of the Velvet's first three records; Nico's debut, Chelsea Girl ; and an unreleased album heretofore known to fans by legend only.

Universal Republic (2012) Modern R&B is, no doubt, in the midst of an experimental renaissance — artists like Frank Ocean, Drake, the-Dream, and even Usher are expanding the genre's sonic playbook by going darker and weirder, incorporating elements of dance-pop, trip-hop, and warped indie rock.

Reprise Records (2012) Deftones' brand of metal is artful and spacey, patient and textured: Stephen Carpenter's de-tuned distortion washes over like menacing storm clouds; Abe Cunningham's dextrous drumming takes cues from both hip-hop and prog; and, at his most melodic, Chino Moreno is the greatest art-rock vocalist on the planet.

Columbia (2012) Don't let Aerosmith's Music From Another Dimension confuse you. It was produced inside the normal, predictable dimension where all Aerosmith songs since Armageddon sound pretty much alike.

Columbia/Legacy (2012) Bill Withers has always been the down-to-earth, odd-man-out of the '70s soul brothers: he's the one who came bearing a lunch box on the cover of his relaxed 1971 debut, Just as I Am .

Paw Tracks Records (2012) We are used to this kind of thing with bigger stars — where the biography starts to take over and we talk more about how gaga-licious the artist is than about the music — but less so with the underground. Prince Rama don't make it easy, but their music demands that we dispense with their deep-fried, peyote-dipped creamsicle of a story as quickly as possible.

Matador Records (2012) It has taken a decade, but Paul Banks has finally written his mission statement in song: "Death will come by ocean, I want that guarantee," he sings on "I Paid for That," a propulsive cut from his debut solo album.

Captured Tracks (2012) Feeling disassociated, darkened, distressed, or just plain different this fall? Don't fret or suffer like the only hope out there for getting lost musically is by listening to early Depeche Mode or jumping on the Kraftwerk revival bandwagon.

Anticon Records (2012) Why?'s fourth studio album has been marketed as a "return to form" after 2009's tepidly received Eskimo Snow , since frontman Yoni Wolf's trademark raps are once again prominent.

Capitol/Parlophone (2012) It's no myth that artists tend to struggle with the dreaded second-album slump, but less clichéd and much more real is the third-album choke — especially when previous releases are so critically acclaimed.